APRIL 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s Central Bank said it would keep its key interest rate at 9% because the economy was set to hit its inflation target. In January the Central Bank raised its interest rate by 1%. Uzbekistan’s main currency exchange exists on the black market but the statement gives insight into the Central Bank.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund said its assets had dropped by 5% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2014. Azerbaijan’s government is trying to push its way through a regional economic downturn and has said it will dip into its reserves to support various projects.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon sacked the head of Tajikistan’s Central Bank Abdujabbor Shirinov, media reported, an apparent reaction to the continued slide of the somoni currency.
This year the somoni has nose-dived by around 20% against the US dollar as it struggled to cope with a fall in the value of the Russian rouble and a dip in Russia’s economy which has hit remittances.
Mr Shirinov, a previous Tajik ambassador to the United States and head of the Central Bank since 2012 has taken increasingly desperate measures to defend the currency. Last month he ordered exchange kiosks to be banned but instead of giving the government more control over its currency, it just forced money changers into the black market.
The Dushanbe-based ASIA-Plus reported that Jamshed Nourmahmadzoda had been appointed Tajikistan’s new Central Bank chief. Mr Nourmahmadzoda was previously head of Amonatbonk.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Apparently worried about people defaulting on mortgage payments, the Kazakh Central Bank has set up a 130b tenge ($700m) fund. Kazakh media said the Central Bank will loan cash to commercial banks who will then help people who took out mortgages, possibly in dollars, between 2004 and 2009.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Salaries have risen by nearly 10% since the beginning of the year in Turkmenistan, official media reported quoting the Turkmen finance ministry.
This piece of data is important for two main reasons. Firstly, it is a rare piece of data from Turkmenistan’s government on prices and inflation. Secondly, it shows the probable impact of the devaluation by 30% of Turkmenistan’s manta currency on Jan. 1.
Turkmenistan, like other countries in the region, has been struggling to cope with the fall in global energy prices and the downturn in Russia’s economy that has slashed around 50% off the value of its rouble currency.
Both issues have pressured Central Asian economies and Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedobv ordered the Central Bank to cut the value of the manat for the first time in seven years.
Typically, currency devaluations in Central Asia have triggered inflation and, although not officially confirmed, this appears to be the case in Turkmenistan.
The Turkmen finance ministry said salaries had risen by 9.5% in the first three months of the year. It didn’t give any more information.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, and a former Georgian PM, has once again criticised the Central Bank for failing to stop a depreciation of the lari currency, media reported. The previous government, loathed by Mr Ivanishvili, appointed the current Central Bank chief.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has increased the price of electricity it charges its citizens by 7.4%, media reported, the second price rise in the last six months. Prices for basic utilities in Uzbekistan have been rising steadily.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
APRIL 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Revenue at Kazmunaigas EP, the London-listed unit of Kazakhstan’s state energy company, fell by 47% last year because of the collapse in oil prices, it said at its annual results. Importantly, too, salaries increased by 10% at Kazmunaigas after last year’s devaluation of the Kazakh tenge.
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(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a trip to Washington next week, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan will sign a trade deal with the US, media reported quoting US government sources. Although Armenia is an ally of Russia it is also improving ties with the West.
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)
MAY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Initial data from the Georgian statistics office showed that economic growth in Georgia has picked up since the beginning of the year. Geostat said that overall year-on-year (y/y) growth in Q1 was 3.2%. In January y/y growth was 0.5%, in February it measured 4.9% and in March it measured 4.3%.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 230, published on May 6 2015)